Door holder or latch



June 6, 1939. g 2,161,542

DOOR HOLDER OR LATCH Filed May 10, 1938 INVENTOR:

ATTORNEY Patented June 6, 1939 r r I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DOOR HOLDER OR LATCH Harry W. Titus, Uniontown, Pa.

Application May 10, 1938, Serial No. 207,082 2 Claims. (01. 292 123) The invention has for an object to provide a the lever, as at I9, 011 the other side of the door holder simple in construction, easy of opstandard, eration, and positive in its action. The lever IT is pivotally carried on a pin 20 It is an important aim of the invention to prejournalled in the standard i so that the lever I 5 sent a novel structure in the mounting and enmay oscillate in the plane of the slot. 5

casing of elements of such a device, to the end The lever l'i is of thefirst order, one arm that it may be rapidly and effectively assembled forming a working portion 2|, the other 22 bewith a minimum liability of faulty action, and ing useful in obtaining a turning moment when whereby it will be liable in a minimum degree force is applied to iteither manual from above to derangement by wear, or ordinary stresses of or spring-pressed from below. 10 service, and particularly so that liability of de- The arm 2| of lever I1 is provided with a derangement by accidents will be greatly minitent notch 23 in its lower side, and a cam surmized. 7 face 24 directed upwardly from the outer lower A fu Obj is to provide a novel detentedge of the detent slot and outwardly from the operating spring and mounting. pin 20, forming a hook or bill 25. The cam 24 15 Additional objects, advantages, and. novel is adapted to be engaged by the bight of a U- features of construction reside in the construcshaped loop 26 moving the lever upwardly so tion, arrangement, and combination of parts that the notch 23 may be in a position to engage involved in the embodiment of the invention as the bight 26.

herein disclosed, as will appear from the fol- The arm 22 is provided with a stirrup or notch 20 lowing description and accompanying drawing, 28 at a suitable radius to permit the end of a wherein 7 spring 29 to rest therein. The spring 29 is a Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the defiat leaf spring extending longitudinally of the vice in operative relation to a door; standard l5 and anchored at its lower end 30 to Figure 2 is a vertical cross section of the the inside of the standard. 5

device when in engaged position; As shown in Figure 4, the spring need not be Figure 3 is a partial top plan; apertured and the anchorage for the spring 29' Figure 4 is a vertical cross section of the demay consist of a tongue 33 pressed inward from vice when in disengaged position, and showing the wall of the standard I5, and arranged with a modified spring mounting. an upper end part parallel to the original posl- 30 Figure 5 is a side elevation partly in section tion of the material pressed from the wall to of a modification adapted to be mounted on form the tongue. The end 30 of the spring is another plane than that of the floor. simply set under and against the tongue. The I Figure 6 is a detail inner elevation of the tongue is narrower than the spring which there- 35 spring seat. fore may lie across the opening formed in the 35 The embodiment of the invention here diswall by,displacement of the tongue material. closed, as an example of its use and practical The curvature of the wall of the standard preapplication comprises a base member I!) which vents the Spr f pp g laterally. As the is provided with a flange portion II from the Spring {Ionstantly 6 gfiudlnal 00mcenter of which an annular internally threaded 1t 15 thereby l 111 pl ce W1th0ut fas- 40 boss I2 is projected. Countersunk holes [3 are tenmgs, assembly W111 be slmpllfled and formed in the flange to permit firm attachment bola ecotlomlzefi- It W111 be seen m Flgure 2 that thereof to a floor by means of screws 14. The t t f 2915 under Straw at the sngaged base m is a standard fitting in t plumbing s1t1on as 15 shown by the curve therein. Thus, a

considerable initial force or torque is produced 45 tradedi t kee the detent securel in en .a ed A section of pipe forms a standard [5 threaded La ai o p r y g g at one end and screwed into the boss l2. The The arm 22 is initially inclined dl f om upper end of the Standard is longituditally the fulcrum 20 so that manual or pedal pressure Slotted on the end as at of sufiiclent wldth may be readily applied without liability of slip- 50 to accommodate a detent lever ll of the first ping ff w t 1 moves The gradient, is order and 0f Sufl p along the axis of toward the fulcrum rather than toward the end the standard, to serve as a stop l8 for one arm of t level The end of t arm is provided 2 0f t level at the one Side and 110 have proper with a widened portion 32 to permit more ready. clearance and a lower stop for the other arm of application of force thereto. 55

The modification shown in Figure comprises a lever I1 of modified design the parts of which corresponding to those of the lever I! are indicated by similar numerals with a prime mark applied. It is mounted on the pin 20 in a standard l5 similar to that first described except that the slot under the arm 22' is deeper to the stop IS. The lever I1 is constructed so that manual force may be applied to the lever IT in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the standard l5, while the cam 24' and detent notch 23 are adapted to be operative with a fastening member 3! such as is shown in Fig. 1, moving substantially along the axis of standard l5. This form of the article is well adapted to be mounted on a wall or base board.

The automatic operation of the device may be seen in Figure 2 wherein the loop 26 and the arm 2| are shown by dotted lines in positions involved as it moves to the right to its final engaged position. It first engages near the top of the cam face 24, raising the lever against the force of spring 29 until the loop passes the bill or edge of notch 23 and receives the bill therein. Manual operation is shown in Figure 4 wherein the detent notch 23 has been raised from element 26 by foot pressure on the arm 22. The additional curve assumed by the spring in compliance with force acting with a resultant on a line between the extremity and base of the spring is also apparent in Figure 4. However, the moment arm of this spring force is reduced due to the rotation of the stirrup 28 more nearly to the line from fulcrum 20 to the opposite end of spring 29. This results in preventing an undue increase of load as the lever moves to disengaged position and permits a more substantial initial retaining force to be maintained than would otherwise be possible.

I claim:

1. A door holder comprising a footed base having an internally threaded annular boss, a tubular eXteriorly threaded standard screwed therein at one end, said standard being longitudinally slotted on opposite sides at its opposite end, a lever pivoted in said slots constructed to engage and hold a door element at one position, the root of said slot at the one side constituting a stop for the lever adjacent said position and the root of the slot at the opposite side spaced from the lever constituting a stop for release movement of the lever.

2. The structure of claim 2, said lever having two arms, one having a hook on the lower side thereof, a cam face exteriorly of said hook inclined upwardly and outwardly therefrom, the oppositely extended arm being provided with a spring-engaging notch in the lower side thereof and having operating portion at its outer part, a flat longitudinally compressible leaf spring within the standard, one end of which rests in the said spring engaging notch, the other end of the spring seated inside said standard.

HARRY W. TITUS. 

